75 years ago today our nation was attacked by Japan and jolted our nation into the second world war. As we look back at the fateful day let us remember that every year during December 7th ceremonies bourbon from a canteen recovered from a B-29 is poured into the harbor as peace offering to the fallen. For this week I have written a poem about that day of infamy.
My Navy Whites
For my navy whites are no longer white
For they have been stained with the blood of my mighty ship
My Navy whites are blacken with her blood
She once stood mighty and proud
But now she lays in the harbor still bleeding the black blood that has stained my navy whites
For my navy whites are not longer white
For they have been stained with the blood of my fellow mates
My Navy whites are reddened with their blood
For they too once stood proud
But for now they float above the harbors floor
They do too bleed the red that stained my navy whites
For my navy whites are no longer white
As salty tears comes down my blackened face the tears do not clean my navy whites
For as I rub my salt stain eyes I see that my once crisp Navy whites are tattered, worn, and a little bit burned
No these crisp new Navy whites are not what they were just an hour ago
As I stand in this harbor of pearls I see that my Navy white will never be white again
Although my Navy whites may be black and burned from the oil and red from the blood
There’s one thing that isn’t
My spirit
For my navy whites are no longer white and may never be again
One thing that will always be white is my spirit
For my spirit is as white and starched as it will ever be
For now as I stand up onto the shore of the harbor of pearls
I can see that my beating heart is beating for everything that is on my navy whites
Because my navy whites are no longer white
